Power of the Elements
by Oceanawaits
Summary: Anna is a teenage girl who finds socialising hard, but when she meets David and finds out she's a witch, everything changes. There are a few things that Anna finds hard to get her head round, but there is an even more amazing truth. A truth that just might explain the unique power that Anna seems to have.
1. Chapter 1: Mr Brown

_I love being outdoors in the open air, away from troubles and concerns. You can close your eyes and create whatever atmosphere you choose just for yourself. No-one else can interfere or be affected by your emotions as you lay down on the soft grass in an empty space, creating your own fantasy land around you. The smells are different, the air is different, the temperature is different, in fact, everything is different. There's more to see, more different things to discover. Sometimes I really wish I was some kind of wild animal - I wouldn't even care if I was a small insect, just as long as I got to be out there and free, feeling the wind in my back and the sun beating down on me. _

_This is my ideal life: I'm standing out in the warm sunshine on the school field without a care in the world as people run past me looking stressed, worried, excited, sad. I don't feel any of these things, I am just about as relaxed as you could ever imagine. You have probably never been this relaxed in your life before. I have nothing to do, no school like so many other people I see; no homework, nothing to think about or worry about. I don't think I've ever felt extreme emotion before. I've never cried before. I've never had a reason to. It's been like that for my whole life. All I do every day is wake up, eat, probably go back to sleep again, laze around all day and do whatever else I feel like. I don't really do much either. I don't like to do many active things. I barely even have to think. Everything I do is just instinctive. I don't have to plan or think ahead. I have no clue what I will do tomorrow, and I like it that way. I just take each day as it comes, never knowing (but sometimes wondering) what tomorrow will bring. It's good not knowing what to expect. It keeps you alert, but doesn't stop you sleeping. It doesn't worry you. Then, after an event, I will spend time mulling over it, because I didn't expect it. Then in the evening I can go through everything that happened during the day and think about how one event lead onto another. It can be interesting and exciting in a weird sort of way. There isn't much to think about in the winter, though. I spend most if my time curled up trying to keep warm. Even with my body temperature to think about in the cold season, I still prefer it to the rubbish life the I have in the real world. It is only me in this life - this imaginary world I long to live in._

"ANNA!" My eyes flicked away from the window to look at Mr Brown, who had at some point walked towards me and apparently stood there for a couple of minutes waiting for me to snap out of my day dream. After that didn't work, he had resorted to shouting my name numerous times until I finally became aware of what was going on. "Oh, you're back with us. Now tell me, Anna, what was the last thing I said?"

"I...er...umm..." I stuttered.

He put his hands behind his back, his eyes focused slightly above my head, and began tapping one foot impatiently on the floor. "Come on, we don't have all day."

Why do I always have to drift off at the wrong moments? "Umm..." I fumbled around desparately in my head for any memory of what had been going on before my attention was swayed toward my fantasies of a perfect, carefree life.

"Hurry up!" he shouted, and his eyes filled with rage.

"I-I don't know, Sir." I said nervously, deciding to just take the punishment I had been promised last time I was daydreaming in a geography lesson.

"You don't know."

"No," I clarified. I somehow sounded ten times louder and more confident than I really was. Right now I just wanted to fall down a hole. I could imagine how irritated my classmates must be by now. About five minutes of almost every lesson was spent listening to a teacher moaning at me about not concentrating.

"And why is it that you don't know?"

"Sir, I-"

"Answer me, Anna," he interrupted.

"I was daydreaming." Twenty-seven pairs of eyes rolled and a slight murmur of annoyance went around the classroom. I felt my cheeks heat up - although I'd heard this lecture more often than I care to remember, the embarrassment of being stared at never seemed to fade.

"Oh you were, were you? And do you remember what I said to you last time you were daydreaming?" I nodded. How could I forget? It was only yesterday. "Then you will already know that you are in detention this lunchtime."

"Yes." I looked down at the table.

"I would appreciate it if you tried to at least _look_ like you are listening, even if you would rather be staring out the window.

This is what always happens with me. I always daydream, and I always end up getting laughed at. No-one sticks up for me, because no-one likes me. I'm just the weird geek who gets top marks in all her tests all the time. This is why the teachers always target me. Especially Mr Brown. I am always daydreaming so they always tell me off, and then when I get top marks in my tests they think it's all down to them so they congratulate themselves and make sure they keep doing it. I know life isn't fair, but shouldn't it be a bit fairer than this? No-one else gets picked on by every single teacher they have and can't remember a teacher who hasn't targeted them, and yet everyone else struggles with at least one thing in school. I don't find school hard, I've never revised in my life and there have only been a couple of occasions where I haven't got top marks since I moved into secondary school.

You might say this is down to my parents, but you'd be wrong. My mum left my dad about two years after I was born, and I haven't seen her since. My dad doesn't know why she left, or where she is now. I don't know any more than that. My dad won't talk about her. I tried asking him before, but he either found something that he urgently needed to do, or swiftly changed the subject. Either way, I can take a hint, so I just went along with it.

Anyway, my dad (Mike) couldn't care less what grades I get. He probably wouldn't care if I ended up with some rubbish low-paid job that everyone hates and would possibly even run away from me if they ever found out what I did for a living. Okay. Maybe that was a bit of an exaggeration, but you get the picture. _Now_ do you realise why I daydream so much? My own dad pretty much acts like I don't exist. He lets me get on with my boring, repetitive life and I let him get on with his: usually his consists of going to work as a receptionist at the hotel round the corner, then coming home and sitting in front of the tv watching whatever crappy tv show he can find. I make him dinner, and then wash everything up. When I'm done with that, I go upstairs to my room again, which is apparently where Mike wants me to be, and read a book or daydream or do homework or whatever else I can think of to pass the time.

I'm not worth anything to anyone else. I get good grades, but still no-one asks me for help. The only time people ever talk to me is to make some rude comment or for a dare. And yes, people do get dared to come and talk to me. Seriously, what is going on here? Isn't everyone supposed to have had at least one friend by the time they get to the age of 17? The thing is though, that I'm actually past caring. I have no desire to be around anyone. Well. Maybe that's not completely true. There is one person. A boy. Called David.

"We were talking about the education received by children in Ghana. _Try_ to concentrate, Anna." I could sense both anger and amusement in his voice.

"Yes, Sir," I mumbled. No-one hates geography more than me. Especially sat in this dull old classroom with white walls and plain grey display boards that nobody ever bothers to fill anymore, because Mr Brown is never satisfied with anything that gets put up in his room. If it's not too colourful, then it's too dull. If the space isn't too full, then there's too much empty space or pictures. There's never a way to win with Mr Brown, but he is even more harsh on me than anyone else. He's had it in for me from the start. I don't know why but everybody seems to be repulsed by me. When I was little, I used to have my own little bubble of space that no-one dared to enter. I do try to make an impression around new people - make sure I keep a straight, ordinary expression on my face rather than the dreamy, not-quite-with-it expression that my face is usually occupied with; answer questions; 'mmm-ing' and 'aahh-ing' at the appropriate moments in the new person's speech about themselves - but clearly I just never pull it off. Maybe it's because of how I look. My skin is unusually pale, yet my eyes are a dark brown, and my straight hair (which is always pulled back into a loose ponytail) is a slightly darker than most people's.

I made it through the rest of the morning without getting noticed too much, then went for my detention at lunchtime.

I arrived in the hall and breathed a sigh of relief when I saw that it wasn't Mr Brown supervising. There were four other people there, already scribbling down words in scruffy handwriting. I was told I had to write out a two page essay on the disadvantages of daydreaming and why I shouldn't do it, and that if I should day dream during the detention, I would be spending my next lunchtimes writing out a four page essay instead. God, he hates me. Seriously, who can concentrate for a whole lesson without drifting off once or twice? I guess it's easier if there is actually stuff going into your head that you didn't know already. I like getting good grades and not having to worry about them, but sometimes I wish I was normal. My academic life might not be so great, but my social life would be better.

So I might have been telling a _tiny_ lie when I said that I don't care about having a social life, because it's actually what I want more than anything else. It's really not fair. Everyone else is normal except from me. It might not even be so bad if I knew why, but my parents don't talk to me, so if it's anything they know about that they decided they didn't want me to know about, then I might be a bit stuck with trying to answer that question, but there may be someone else I could ask, like another family member. The only problem with that is that my parents lost contact with all the other relatives we had when I was born, so none of then have ever met me. Some of them probably don't even know I exist! I sometimes wonder where they are and if they wonder what happened to the three of us (or just my two parents). Maybe they won't ever find out and we'll be alone until we all die and no-one will have a clue what happened to us. They might even be the ones who broke contact and left my parents in such a state that they have ended up not even talking to their daughter who is not aware that she has done anything wrong in the seventeen years she has been here. I never thought of that before. Maybe I should trace them. I was just beginning to drift off and imagine what might happen if I ever met them when I had to abandon the thought quickly, because I had just remembered the threat of spending then next two lunchtimes in the hall and went back to writing my essay.

I finished the detention and miraculously managed to keep my concentration throughout the whole thing, much to the amazement of both myself and Mr Brown, who gave me the most evil look you could ever imagine as I walked out of the hall. He had been standing outside in the corridor staring at me for the last fifteen minutes, hoping to catch me losing concentration. I don't know if I'll be able to take my eyes off him during a lesson again without being put in another detention. How did I end up like this?

I'm not aware that I ever did anything wrong. I just don't seem to be a particularly popular person. I try to be normal, but it doesn't work. I'm not sure why, but being normal seems to be pretty much impossible for me. People I meet always see me as...vacant (and they'd be spot-on) and lose interest. I sometimes manage to concentrate for about three quarters of a lesson, but I always end up thinking about something else. Something impossible.

The things I dream about are always impossible. Leading my own life is something I almost do anyway, but there are a lot of things I dream about that aren't quite so realistic. Like being in some kind of storm, being part of the wind, all weird and wonderful weather-related things. I seem to be particularly interested in the weather. I don't know why. I don't know why a lot of things are going on, really. I don't know why I even ended up at this awful school with Mr Brown as my geography teacher in the first place. All I know is that I can't wait till I take my A levels and get out of here. Only eight months to go!

I got ignored at home (as usual). Really the only time my dad talks to me is to ask me what's for dinner. I don't know why Mike blocks me out so much. Other people's parents chat with them and make an effort to include their kids. Other people go on holiday and do other family stuff. Not me. Like I said, I am not worth anything to anyone else. I basically lead my own life, and probably will until I die. It gets lonely sometimes, even though I don't know what I'm missing. I would really like a friend, but I guess it doesn't really matter that much. I'm still me no matter how many friends I have. I'm doing fine on my own anyway. Who needs other people?

I went upstairs and spent a couple of hours doing my homework (I'd been given extra geography again). When I was done with that, I walked past my dad, who was laying on the sofa watching some random game show, without either of us showing any interest in each other as I stalked straight through to the kitchen. I searched through the fridge and cupboards looking for something time consuming to prepare, seeing as I preferred to drag it out. Besides, I didn't have anything better to do.

However, the only thing I could find that was worth cooking today was some pasta - I was going shopping tomorrow anyway, so I could stock up then. I stared vacantly out of the window as I stirred the pasta, wondering why I had to have had such a short attention span in the lesson when I knew Mr Brown would be looking out for me daydreaming, due to the threat of a detention he gave me yesterday.

"Dad!" I called out from the kitchen, "dinner's ready!"

I sat on the chair facing the window (my usual spot), and started eating while I waited for Mike to get up off the sofa. After that, we just ate in silence. I went over to the sink and washed our plates up while my dad wandered back over to the sofa.

I decided to go to bed early. I'd had a lot of homework to concentrate on, due to the extra geography, and when I put that with the lunchtime I spent concentrating on my essay in detention, it left my brain feeling worn out, although physically I felt normal. Sleep came easily, even though the prospect of my last geography lesson of the week didn't.

"ANNA! Concentrate!" I looked up to find Mr Brown frowning at me again. I was just getting ready for another few minutes of embarrassment when there was a knock at the door. Mr Brown looked a bit disappointed that he didn't get to continue, but put on a neutral teacher-face as he opened the door. David walked in. My eyes widened as I heard Mr Brown introduce him. Apparently a new student joined and he knew people already in the other class, so the new student got put in that class and David got moved into our class. But I wasn't really listening. I was just watching his green eyes sparkle as he flicked his dark brown hair out of his face and glanced around the room nervously.

I looked at my own dark brown hair and pale skin. I thought of what that must look like with my dark brown eyes, and wondered what people think of me just from looking. Do I look normal? I always thought I did, but I always used to think that I was a normal person. As in I used to think there was nothing weird about me. I figured that wasn't the case when I was in year four, and all the teachers were astounded by my grades. I don't think I realised before then though. It's just that everything in the world seems so obvious to me. You only have to see a few pictures of the contrasts and similarities in things like, say, "the education received by the children in Ghana" to know what goes on over there. You only have to hear a few birds singing to know how to tell the difference between all of them. It's really not that difficult if you think about things properly. You just have to look and listen out to nature. It tells you everything.

Mr Brown looked around for a spare seat. I could tell he was desperate to find another spare one apart from the one next to me. When he realised there weren't any, he was forced to put David next to me. I only just managed to hold back my smile. For once I had won.

"Hi," I muttered as he slowly walked over and flopped down on the chair next to me, realising with a sinking feeling that he would most likely have no more desire to sit next to me than anyone else in the class did. And that my trying to socialise with him would probably go just as badly as it did with everyone else I talked to. I put my 'normal' face on.

"Hey." He looked fed-up, but after a couple of seconds he looked up at me and smiled. Astounded by how friendly he seemed, I blinked a few times before smiling back. And I felt like something that had been holding me down for all these years had suddenly been lifted off of me. Like it had been holding me back, pushing the tiny piece of self esteem necessary for having a conversation deep down inside me. It felt good to have it off my shoulders.

During the lesson, we just a laid back conversation to pass the time. I really enjoyed it, and I found that the interested expression I usually wore when people spoke to me wasn't as forced as it normally was, and it came more naturally.

It's nice just to talk for the sake of it. It's relaxing. I wonder if he knows about my reputation. I mean, he's not in any of my classes, so he might mot have heard any rumours. He didn't seem to think there was anything different about me. He didn't even notice the look on Sarah's face when he got put next to me. Sort of a "I'm-gonna-get-you-for-this" face. I wouldn't be surprised if she does get me back either.

She's been giving me evil looks and acting like I have some contagious disease ever since last lesson. She's pretty cross about it, too. She hates me anyway, but if she hates me even more now, then so will all the other girls in the class, because she's one of the really popular people who always gets her way. People will do anything to be a part of her group. This school is quite small, and Sarah's 'that girl' that everyone knows who she is (long blonde hair, the leader of her little clan, popular with the boys etcetera, etcetera).

Anyway, the school is just one large building, and two long corridors which cross over in the middle, which is where the reception area is. There is a staircase at each end of each corridor, and two floors (including the ground floor). Each of the four parts of the corridors are have classrooms for different subjects. One for maths and languages; one for art, music and drama; one for English, geography and history; and one for science, technology and I.C.T. At the and of the maths corridor is the gym (which is behind the stairs) and the changing rooms (which are on the first floor). The four areas aren't as big as you might think, because there aren't that many classrooms needed. There are only two classes for each subject, and the classes are different for each subject. We also have classes for registration. Unfortunately Sarah's group are in mine, and David isn't. Not that he'd have ever spoken to me in different circumstances, obviously, there's not enough evidence yet to say he's any different from anyone else. I'll just have to hold out till I do my 'A levels', and then clear off to another school for sixth form, where I can hopefully make a better impression than I did in this one. Break times are alright, though. I always settle down and eat in the library (which is above the English corridor) with a book to read. Before I started, I quickly thought about what I should do during the next geography lesson with David. I thought it would take quite a lot of thinking about, but actually, the answer was quite simple: don't day dream, and act normal.

Reading is the thing I enjoy doing the most out of everything (even day dreaming). When you read a book, you feel like you're really there. I like to imagine I'm someone else with a different life sometimes. I just like to be somewhere I am not so familiar with. I can do that here, as well. People leave me alone here. I think some people are even scared of how quiet it is in here. It's always so noisy in class, or at lunchtime. Some people find the silence unsettling. It irritates them because they have nothing else to focus on apart from what they are doing. Even in a test, you can hear people scribbling down answers in the background. It's not something most people are used to. I love silence. Tere is just something about it that I really like. It's why I like reading so much. I like the library because it's so quiet, so I might as well read the free books provided while I am there rather than just day dreaming and doing nothing. Besides, I like to save up my day dreams so I have something to do in lessons.

After lunch, I had English, and you can guess who the main character in my daydreams was? It's really annoying. He's the only thing I can think about. He probably doesn't even like me. He only made polite conversation. I don't even know why I like him so much. Yeah, he seemed nicer than the rest of the class, but that's how everyone else should treat every one else. There shouldn't be anything particularly special about that, it's just that I can't remember anyone who's just been normal to me before for the last ten or eleven years of my life.

I used to have quite a strong relationship with my dad, but he decided against that a long time ago. I might still have one or two friends if I hadn't had to move up to secondary school. There were so many things that might have happened to me, but none of the things that I would have wanted to have happened to me happened, just the things which put me in the position I'm in now. If fate is real, why does it hate me so much? I seem to just be unlucky. I've never attracted a lot of attention before, which is good - I don't like to draw attention to myself. I prefer to blend into the background and let someone else take centre stage, so that no-one notices me - but I have been completely ignored for most of my life. There are a lot of people just in my form group who I've never even spoken to. They judged me and just gave me a dirty look if I looked like I might have something to say to them.

And then I got told off for daydreaming again. It's not just geography I daydream in, it's everything. It probably takes up pretty much my whole day. Dreaming in general probably takes up about ninety-nine percent of my life. It's kind of sad, but it's not really my fault. I have had the minimum amount of support possible. There have been numerous letters in the past about having counselling, but I turned them all down. I didn't realise quite how serious my problem was. If I had the opportunity again, I might think about it a bit more. I was only in year five the last time I got the offer, but it wasn't so bad then. I just floated of into space from time to time. They mainly wanted to help with my social skills then, because they noticed that I was a bit 'lonely', and realised that if I was going to have a chance, it would have been when I was that young. I wish I'd realised that as well. Leave it too late (like I did) and you're not a little child anymore, and you're considered less important and people aren't so keen to help you. I seem to be gradually drifting away. Soon, no-one will even remember that I existed.


	2. Chapter 2: Wish?

With that plan in mind and the thought of sitting with David again, I went to next geography lesson with newfound enthusiasm. I got there before David, but there were still a couple of minutes to spare when he arrived.

"Hi," he said. I smiled and thought for a second - should I ask if he's heard anything about me? All we've really said to each other is "hi", and had short whispered conversations behind Mr Brown's back. It might seem a bit weird to just come out with that, so I decided to wait until a bit later in the lesson. I could just gently guide the conversation towards the subject and then ask.

I was listening quite hard to Mr Brown, and he said some ineresting things. He was talking about the weather, which is one of my favoirite geography topics. It's quite sciencey, and I really like science. It's so predictable in some ways, but in others it's completely unpredictable. You can get a vague idea of what it's going to do and when, without ever knowing anything precisely. There are some things that are very extreme. Some things are just miserable...and then there's snow. Everyone loves snow. I love snow. It's so beautiful and the cold, wet feel adds to the excitement of something so different and rare. We don't get much snow here, so everyone gets really over excited when it does come. I love it, I just don't like to be in it for more than ten minutes maximum. It's partly because I get bored out in the cold on my own, but also just because I think it's nicer to look at. We barely ever get it, and it's just so pretty. It's a shame to ruin it. The thought of being in the snow is what sparked my next daydream.

_I was sat on a wall with David in the snow. We had woolly hats and scarves on, and I was just beginning to get a little bored when something very cold, very wet and very hard hit me on the arm. I looked up to see David stood there smiling stupidly at me and my boredom was shoved to one side as I smiled back and got up to make a snowball to throw back at him._

_"Oh no you don't!" he shouted at me and the biggest snowball you've ever seen came flying right at me. I screamed and tried to duck out the way, but just ended up flat on my face. What a failure I am. I quickly got up and managed to finish my snowball before he had a chance to throw another one at me. I took careful aim, but missed by a long way._

_"Was that the best you could do?" David asked. Before I had time to answer, yet another snowball was flying towards me. I made a pathetic attempt to run away, but just ended up delaying the inevitable by about half a second and the snowball knocked my hat off. I bent down to pick it up and got whacked in the bum._

_"Ooh!"_

_"I'll get you for that!" And I threw a snowball right in his face. Proud of the most accurate shot I've ever made in my life, I stopped and stood tall to face the next snowball. Except there wasn't another one. David walked up to me._

_"How on earth did you manage to hit me with that?" he teased._

_"You're so insulting!" I giggled and lay down on the floor to make a snow angel. David sat down next to me. I sat up._

_"Anna?"_

_"Yes?" I stared into his eyes for a few seconds, and then he leaned in towards me._

"ANNA!" Once again I had to tear my attention away from inside my head and back to reality. A geography lesson. "That was fourteen times I had to shout your name that time! Go and stand outside. And take your things with you. I've had enough of your day dreams today!"

As I packed up my things, David shot me a sympathetic "I-know-the-feeling" look. Wow. I feel like my life is complete. Someone wanting to communicate with me (apart from a teacher) is a minor miracle. I walked out of the room with my head down, trying to hide the smile I couldn't wipe off my face no matter how hard I tried. Even when Sarah looked at me with that smug smile on her face that I hate so much. I've just embarrassed myself in front of David. Oops. I hate to think about what I must have looked like. Especially to someone who doesn't even know me. The teacher is screaming my name at the top of his voice, and I just sit there staring straight past him. What kind of weirdo does that? Stupid question. Me, of course. I am definitely a weirdo, and clearly I frequently do what I have just described to you.

For the whole time I was stood outside, I was day dreaming about all the ways in which Mr Brown could have been humiliated during the incident. It's quite entertaining. It's amazing what your brain can come up with. I won't explain them all to you, there were just too many. There were some interesting things that David did, though...like stick up for me. Not that I really need anyone to stick up for me. Like I said; I am doing just fine on my own. I don't mind someone sticking up for me if it's David, though (obviously). However, we all know that that is never going to happen. I waterloo thinking about how probable it waterloo that David would ever stick up for me, when the bell rang.

I had no idea how long I had been stood outside - I was out in space somewhere - but I knew it must have been quite a long time. I didn't, however, expect it to have been the remaining forty-five minutes of the lesson, so you can understand how surprised in was when the bell rang and the rest of my class walked past me to lunch. David didn't walk straight past me, though. Instead he stopped.

"Do you think you'd like to come and eat lunch on the field with me? It's really sunny today, and you always seem to go off on your own somewhere."

He noticed? How did he know I always go off on my own somewhere. That means he most have noticed it more than once, and we only just had geography yesterday. I considered this for a second. Mr Brown did make me pack my things away, which implies that he didn't want me to come back in, and he hadn't come out of the classroom yet. I thought that meant he didn't want to see my face again today. Which meant I could go and eat lunch, instead of hanging around outside classroom waiting for a teacher (who probably won't even come) to tell me off. It seemed like the most sensible decision to me, and lunch with David seemed like a perfect plan to me.

"Yes, please," I nodded. He looked pleased. Maybe he's a bit of a loner, too

It was nice out on the field. I wish I could eat lunch out here more often. I used to eat on the field, but then people started bullying me, so I had to move to the library. It was sunny out there as well. I'd never seen so many people sunbathing at once. there we're rows of about three or four people just laying there in the Sun doing nothing. People left them alone. Not so many people were eating out there. Just a few small groups. I don't go on the field at all anymore, but I found that I missed it. I live in a flat, so I don't have a garden. Not even one to share with the others staying there. There's no park nearby, either, so I don't get the chance to be out on the grass. I liked it. It was relaxing to hear the quiet murmur of conversation (I still prefer the silence) and the birds chirping. If the birds hadn't been there, I might not have liked it as much as I did. I prefer silence to talking, but for some reason, I loved to hear the birds sing. I could have just sat and listened to them all day.

"So what we're you doing in geography just now, then?" David asked. It sounded like a bit of a stupid question to me, but then David didn't know me that well.

"Umm I-I don't..." I struggled to find a way to describe it apart from "day dreaming", but failed miserably.

"Were you dreaming or wishing?" He asked. I smiled at that question, though it caught me by surprise - I've never met anyone I can relate to in this way before. No-one else knows what it's like to get lost in a dream in the same way that I do, and I can tell he does, too. I can just picture his eyes looking distant, and what he might be thinking of.

"Wishing. Do you day dream a lot?" I had been wondering this for a few minutes.

"Yes, I just managed to stop myself in that lesson."

"Do you ever get lost in them like I just did?"

"Sometimes." We smiled at each other.

"Anna, do you want to come to the cinema with me on Wednesday?" It took a second for this to sink in. Was he asking me out?

"Umm" I swear I nearly passed out. "Yeah, thanks. What time?"

"Six o'clock?"

"Sure." His eyes shone brighter than I'd ever seen them shine before.

"Shall I pick you up?" He asked.

"Oh no, don't do that!" I said quickly. He gave me a weird look. "D'you think I could meet you outside?"

"Yeah, I guess." He looked a bit confused.

"Great. It's just that my parents aren't really the nicest people you've ever met. Do you know the flats in front of the train station?"

"Yes."

"Good. I'll meet you outside there then." The bell went. Perfect timing.


	3. Chapter 3: The Date

I'm in the library (it's lunchtime) but I can't take my mind off what happened at the cinema yesterday. When the bell went after he asked me out, I was thinking "OMG, I have a date. With David! How is this going to work out? I don't even know what film we're watching. Help!" but now I realise I didn't need any help. I messed it up all on my own.

There was no school yesterday, because it was an inset day. I spent all day at home trying - and failing - to take my mind off David. I don't even know why he asked me out in the first place. What does he see in me? Is it just the way I look at him? Then he'd be doing it out of pity. Maybe it's because I day dream, so he thinks we have something in common. That's sad. I wouldn't care though, if we end up living happily ever after. Not that that's ever going to happen. He'll soon realise how boring and unpopular and unsocial I am and move on to someone else, while I sit there crying my eyes out over how badly I messed up my one and only chance.

Anyway, when six o'clock finally arrived, I was out on the pavement waiting for him, and he picked me up as planned, and we were walking to the cinema, and things were going alright. I had been wondering what to wear, and was glad that we had both gone for casual. I was quite pleased with my decision. It made me look normal, walking around with someone and making casual conversation. I was doing pretty well at the talking as well. It was only a five minute walk to the cinema, but for me, having a five minute conversation is not something I'm used to. I was quite proud of how well I'd done, and was glad to get in and not have to keep it up. Cinemas are said to be bad for social occasions, because you don't have to talk much, but I was pleased that I could have some time to get used to talking to him, before going for a full on talking date. It was quite a small cinema, so it wasn't that bad being sat at the back. There weren't very many other people there, either, which made me feel a bit uneasy at first, because there were so many empty seats and only a few other people's heads.

I'd bought some popcorn to share, but I think he felt bad for not buying it for me. He's such a gentleman. He picked a good film as well. It was all about a couple of people who meet up and things keep going wrong. The dates go wrong, everything goes wrong. Even when they just make conversation at school. They really try, but whenever things are going well, something embarrassing happens and they both end up feeling really upset. Like one time when they were getting on the bus and the girl tripped over the step. I felt glad those things weren't happening to me. David kept looking round and smiling at me. Genuine smiles. The ones that made me think that maybe he does actually like me. If he didn't, he was a very good actor. It was the kind of film that makes you feel good about how things are going for you and glad that you aren't doing the same things as them. If you were ever embarrassed, you won't be after having watched that film.

When it had finished, we sat at one of the tables in the entrance to the cinema and bought a drink. Well. He bought us drinks. He probably still felt bad about the popcorn. They we're only soft drinks, anyway. David had Sprite and I had Fanta.

"So, what did you think, then?" David asked, trying to get me back into talking mode.

"At least that's not us!" I laughed.

"Yeah..." David thought for a second. "They married in the end though, so it turned out okay." I was going to say something else, but I noticed how I wasn't really drinking anything. I tried to hurry up and catch up with David, who had nearly finished his Sprite. He raised his eyebrow. "What are you doing?"

"Um," I felt really stupid. This is the moment in the film where everything goes wrong, "I just thought I was going a bit slowly and didn't want to make you bored..." I trailed off. Yep. This is where it all starts to go wrong.

"You go as slowly as you like. I'm enjoying this anyway." I gave him a "seriously?" look. He laughed. "No really, I am. I like you...don't look at me like that!" he laughed.

"How can I not look at you like this. No-one ever talks to me, including my parents, and all of a sudden you come along and start chatting away like I'm completely normal."

"Eh?" He looked seriously confused by this. "You are normal." I couldn't stop myself from laughing. "What's so funny?"

"I'm about as far from normal as you can get." I was still giggling quietly.

"In what way?"

"Well. You're the first person I can remember who treats me normally, my parents don't talk to me, I spend my life dreaming about the impossible, and even though I don't concentrate in class, I get good mark's without fail." David looked like something had just clicked in his mind.

"Oh, really," he nodded. It seemed as if he knew something I didn't.

"What. What is it?" Whoops, I sounded too desperate there.

"It's just...oh, it doesn't matter. I'll walk you home." Yup, he was hiding something. I pretended to be ignorant.

"Okay, thanks."

We got up and David kissed me on the cheek. I had the biggest adrenaline rush ever. Like you woke up and saw some random ghost hanging around in your room. That kind of "what am I meant to do" mixed with possibly fear, but mainly surprise. My brain was completely confused and my heart might have stopped. I wasn't sure what might come out of my mouth if I tried to speak with all that going on inside me, but I managed a smile.

We got to the doorway and I realised I still had my empty glass in my hand.

"Oh gosh, I still have this." I shot him an apologetic smile, and jogged off to go and put my glass back. I cut in between a couple of other tables (there were only four or five there) at the same time as one of the people sitting down pushed their chair back. I tripped over the chair leg and dropped my glass to free my hand up so I could catch myself. Big mistake. The glass smashed and one of the pieces cut into my hand as I put it down to break my fall. I screamed and David came running over to help.

"Anna, are you okay?" He looked very worried, and his eyes widened when he saw the piece of glass sticking out of the heel of my hand. I kind of felt sorry for him, having to cope with this on a first date. Not that anyone said it was actually a date. "We're going," he said insistently. I decided to get up and go with him, realising that staying here wasn't going to do me any favours.

We cleared off, leaving the rest of the people there looking completely flabbergasted.

"Anna, does it hurt anywhere else?" He was even more worried than when it actually happened. I shook my head in answer to his question. David sighed and nodded, then he took me round a wrong turn on the way back to the flat.

"David, that's the wrong way."

"You didn't seriously think I was taking you back home with that stuck in your hand, did you?" he rolled his eyes, but still looked really worried.

"Um, yes?" I was getting desperate again. My parents would definitely not like it if I was back late.

"No way, Anna. You're going to get that checked out. And taken out," he added, and looked sorry that he did when I flinched nervously. Why did that have to happen? We could have just walked out and everything would have been fine, but no, I had to forget my glass, and then walk behind his chair just after he began pushing it out. Then I just happened to put my hand down on this evil piece of glass. Why? Suddenly, my whole life felt like too much, and I started to cry.

"Hey, hey...it's not that bad. It's only small." Clearly he was talking about the glass in my hand, and clearly he is not used to being around girls, and is not educated in the art of cheering them up. A hug would have been fine. I had no clue what to do, and that just made me cry even more. David obviously had no clue what to do either, because he just stayed silent, held my other hand and carried on walking. That made me feel better, and the tears stopped coming quite so fast, but I'd only just stopped crying completely when we got to the hospital.

David did all the talking, and we only had to wait for five minutes before a man came over to see me. He was tall, pale skinned and dark haired. Kind of creepy. He had an air of authority that made me feel uneasy.

"So how did this happen, then?" he asked, sounding bored.

"Well I tripped over a chair with a glass in my hand and then I dropped the glass as I fell and then the glass smashed and I fell on it." The man looked at me as if I was the most stupid girl in the world.

"Right," he said. "Tess," he called to his colleague, "could you take this one please?" The woman called Tess nodded and the man told her that I fell on some glass. Then she came over to have a look.

"Ouch, we'll have to take that out and put some stitches in for you." She looked like she felt sorry for me, and walked off to get some equipment ready to do the stitches. She seemed much nicer. And when she came back, she had a few medical bits-and-bobs in her hands.

"First I'm going to give you a local anaesthetic, and we'll wait for about twenty minutes for that to work, then I'll take the glass out and stitch you up."

She gave me the anaesthetic, and then walked off for the next twenty minutes while it kicked in. I jumped off the bed I was sat on and went over to sit next to David. I then spent the time while Tess was gone with my eyes closed and my head resting against David's shoulder. I'm sure we looked very sweet when she came back. I went back over to the bed and sat in front of her.

"Right." She put pressed her finger down next to the cut. "Can you feel that?" When I shook my head she nodded, grabbed a pair of tweezers to pull the glass out, and I don't know exactly what she did after that, because that's the point when I looked away.

The woman took her gloves off and told me that I was done.

"You need to be really careful not to pull those stitches out, and you need to book another appointment soon to come back and have them taken out." She handed me a small pile of papers. "Just give these to the receptionist and they'll know what to do. It will also be quite tender, so you won't be able to write for a couple of weeks. You're not right handed, are you?" She was just patronising me now. I shook my head. "Well, in that case, you will still be able to write, but you'll have to be careful." I nodded. "Okay, you can go now."

We booked another appointment at reception, and then left for home.

"Well, I'm glad you made me get that sorted out," I said when we got to the door of the flats.

"Anytime," he replied in a joking way.

"I'm really sorry I did that."

"Sorry you did what?" David said in a confused way. Once again, he had no idea what I was talking about.

"Sorry I fell on that glass," I felt really stupid as I said it. Sympathy flashed across his eyes.

"That wasn't your fault,"

"Yes it was. It was stupid. Everything was going alright for once, and then I had to forget to put my glass down, and then I walked behind that person's chair at the same time as they pushed it out, and then everything went all wrong." I was nearly in tears again as I went through exactly how I managed to mess it all up.

"It doesn't matter now. It's all sorted. It's fine." He reached forward to hug me. I gratefully accepted it and whispered in his ear.

"Do you want to go somewhere else? Like in a week or so? Or maybe even back there?" I was nervous, because I thought he'd say no.

"Yes. Yes I'd like that."

"Thursday at six o'clock?"

"Thursday at six o'clock," he smiled. "Are you brave enough to show your face in the cinema again?"

"I think I'd rather go somewhere else. Like..." I needed a few seconds to think about this one.

"A restaurant?" he suggested.

"No!" I said hastily.

"Why not?" David asked.

"There's too much talking." I said, but then immediately wished I hadn't. Luckily he didn't take it the wrong way.

"Am I really that bad?" he joked.

"No," I said quickly, "It's me. In case you haven't yet figured it out my people skills aren't really that great."

"Me neither."

I pretended I hadn't worked it out yet. "Really?"

"Yeah, that's why I was quite pleased to meet another loner," I frowned at him, "no offence," he added.

"None taken. Where should we go, then?"

"Maybe...how about that place about a twenty minute walk from here - the place where they do abseiling and rock climbing.

"What, with my amazing sense of balance?" I said sarcastically.

"Yeah."

"Fine, if you don't pay for me, because I'll only injure myself and miss it all."

"If you say so. Also, so you think that straight after school would be better, just because they'll probably have closed by six."

"Fair point. That's fine by me."

"Fine, I'll see you tomorrow, then."

"Yeah, see you tomorrow," and he walked off.


	4. Chapter 4: The Storm

I wanted to talk to David again in geography, but when I got there, I found all the tables and chairs spaced out in the classroom. This could only mean one thing: a test (groan). I was wondering whether it was my fault because of daydreaming last lesson, when the rest of the class started to arrive.

We were already stood behind chairs when David walked in, with Mr Brown behind him. The bell rang. Right on cue! He walked straight over to the only available space. The one next to me. I got there first (as usual) and chose the seat in the corner at the back, next to the window. Everyone made sure to keep away from the seat next to me, which was good because it meant David could sit there. Mr Brown dumped his stuff on the desk, went to stand at the front of the classroom and rubbed his hands together.

"Good morning, class."

"Good morning, Mr Brown," the class chanted.

"Please sit down." The chairs scraped on the floor as everyone rushed to sit down and unpack their things. As the lesson had started the same way most lessons do, I think half the class were hoping the tables were only set out differently because of a test in the lesson before ours.

"Today, you will be having a test." The whole claas groaned, and the sound of soft voices chattering away to each other filled the room. "You will be tested on the two topics we have done this year, and some of the topics you did last year. The reason you have not been told is because we want to see how much information is staying in your heads after every lesson. It is a way of seeing how efficiently each of you work and learn during school hours, and how much effort you put into your homework. We can then work out who might need special help, and also how to adapt the way we teach to fit in with the way you all remember things," Mr Brown shouted over all the growing noise, "so could you please pack all your things away. The only thing you will need for this test is a working pen or pencil. While you do this, Anna and David are going to hand out the test papers." I shot David an apologetic look. "This is an exam, so you will be expected to work in exam conditions. That means no talking, whispering, passing notes or communicating in any way, shape or form. Anyone who fails to do this will have marks deducted from their score, and therefore risk spending lunchtimes having one-to-one tuition," Mr Brown smiled when he saw the expressions that washed over some students' faces at the prospect of one-to-one tuition. David and I went over to collect the exam papers and hand them out while the class quietened down. I quickly apologised to David for getting him landed with handing the test papers out. He wouldn't have had to do it if he wasn't sat next to me. He said he didn't mind. Kind of a good thing, seeing as he didn't really have a choice.

After the papers had been handed out, the test began. It was only a forty-five minute test, so it was finished in the lesson. It was actually quite hard - or harder than they usually are, anyway. I finished with just over ten minutes to spare, and I looked over at David. I half expected him to be bent over is paper with his face scrunched up in concentration, and half expected him to be staring into space. He was doing neither: he was staring straight at me. He had clearly finished, though, because he had his paper closed and in the middle of his desk with his pen layed neatly by the side. This confirmed my suspicions. He seemed to have exactly the same "condition" as me, and had finished early with no difficulty at all. Certain things seems to be clicking on about David. I looked away, so that it didn't look like we were "communicating" and stared out of the window. Another day dream started. It wasn't the most eventful day dream, but it was quite exciting. It passed the time anyway.

_I was swirling round and round in the middle of a tornado. I didn't feel dizzy, or even scared. I seemed to be in control of everything. I could make it speed up or slow down just by thinking about it. It was the most amazing feeling ever. Excitement mixed with the novelty of this new experience to create a unique feeling of pleasure and satisfaction. I could probably have fallen asleep right there, spinning around in my tornado. I could probably make the whole thing disappear if I wanted to, but that wouldn't have been a very sensible thing to do while I was floating in the middle of it. The whole world was mine to change and alter. I was a completely different person from the shy one that I normally am. I felt bold and daring, as if I could do anything. I could change the face of the planet-_

"Anna," David whispered into my ear. "Anna." He tapped me gently on the shoulder and I looked round at him."You need to collect the papers in with me," he said. I suddenly realised what was going on.

"Oh," I rose from my seat and ran round the room collecting the papers up. I handed them in to Mr Brown. He didn't even look up or say anything, he just held his hand out. I put the papers in it and rushed back to my seat.

"Thanks, David."

"That's fine. He probably would have had a go at you again, but he was so engrossed in whatever he's doing that he didn't bother to look up, so I thought I'd better save you," he made a superhero pose and I laughed at how silly he looked.

"Who knows, maybe you'll need saving one day," I said sarcastically, but opted out of the superhero pose. Mr Brown started talking again.

"I'll mark your tests, and I hope to be able to give them back to you next lesson," he said, "anyone who's mark is too low will be having a private word with me at the end of the lesson. I hope you are all pleased with your marks, but don't be put out if they are not as high as you'd like them to be. They will not be sent out to your parents unless you did significantly badly, and will not contribute to your end-of-year grades." The bell went, and everyone made a rush to escape.

"Do you want to come and eat on the field with me again?" David asked.

"That would be nice."

The sky was covered by a huge dark grey cloud, but it wasn't _too_ cold. It's only early October, so the temperature hasn't dropped to winter temperatures just yet. Most people are wearing jumpers outdoors, though.

"So what did you think, then? About the test, I mean."

"Well, it was a bit harder than they usually are, but I don't think I made any silly mistakes. I was quite confident with all my answers when I started looking out of the window."

"Yeah, I noticed you chose that seat. Do you like the outdoors, then," David seemed suspicious about something, as if he was trying to find something out. But I pretended that I hadn't caught on.

"I love it. I don't know why, but I've always loved the fresh outdoors air and the feeling of freedom when you're not cooped up inside all the time. It's one of the reasons I hate school so much." David nodded, as if carefully processing the information to make sure it all stayed in his head. "What? What is it?"

"Oh, nothing, nothing," he brushed it away, and I went back to eating my lunch and pretending not to care.

"Do you prefer to be outdoors as well?"

"Yeah, I've always liked to be around nature. And like you said, it's a lot better to have the freedom outdoors that you don't get otherwise," he agreed. He was talking to me, but looking away and watching something - or someone - else. I couldn't tell who until she turned around and walked over to us. Sarah. Oh no.

"You pleased with your new boyfriend, then?" She flicked her hair back out of her face and carried on in her patronising tone "I hear you went out with him the other night," she is so evil.

"It's none of your business what I do in my spare time," I said nervously, wishing I'd just done my usual stare-at-her-like-an-idiot thing until she got so fed-up she just walked away.

"Oh, feisty. I wonder what he thinks." Sarah looked over at David, expecting an opinion. Instead, David did the stare-at-her-like-an-idiot thing. Sarah smirked.

"I see, he doesn't think. Otherwise he wouldn't have been stupid enough to ask you out," she glared at me. I didn't care, though. She was making me so angry, I nearly screamed at her to clear off and mind her own business. She seemed to notice this, and it encouraged her to keep going. "I mean, you didn't seriously think he actually likes you, right? He's just doing it out of pity because you have no other friends." That was it. I'd had enough. I was just about to jump up and do something to her (I hadn't quite got to the point where I _knew_ what I was going to do) when a massive gust of wind blew past, and everyone's things went flying everywhere. The wind was followed by lightning and everyone ran for the school. Sarah didn't bother staying, either.

David ran in with me, but I stopped on the way and grabbed onto him.

"David, David stop!" He stopped and turned around to look at me as I stumbled up to him.

"What is it?"

"I don't know, I just feel really dizzy." Realisation flashed through David's eyes.

"Okay, Anna, it's okay." he put his arm around me. "Can you keep going until we get indoors?" he asked. I shook my head. It seemed to be getting worse and worse. I slumped down on the floor and scrunched my eyes up for a few seconds. "Are you sure you're okay?" I shook my head again. Everything was spinning around so much that I could barely tell which way up I was anymore. I layed back and put my hands on my head.

"I don't know why this is happening. It just seems to be getting worse all the time."

"Try to stay awake," he said and sat down beside me. I swallowed hard and nodded in response.

"Can we just sit here for a few minutes?"

"Of course. I'm sure it'll pass."

Luckily, it did pass, and David helped me up and took me to an empty table in the canteen. We sat down and I stared into David's eyes. Why did it have to be me that Sarah hates so much? I started to cry, and at the same time, it started to rain. I got a massive head rush and blinked a couple of times. There was a ringing in my ears that was so loud that I couldn't hear anything else. It took about ten seconds for the ringing to go away.

"Anna? Anna, can you hear me?"David's face was creased with concern. "Anna, you need to calm down. It shouldn't be raining right now," there was urgency in his voice, "Anna, you are making this happen." I shook my head in disbelief.

"No, how can I be doing that? It's just not possible." I was finding David's theory difficult to get my head round.

"Yes, Anna, it is possible. Let me explain-" I cut him off.

"I don't want you to explain," I said. "I want it to have never happened in the first place!"

"Look, just calm down."

"How can I calm down when you're telling me I'm making a storm?" I said, a bit too loudly, because I attracted some unwanted attention.

"There are things you don't know. Complicated things. Things I can explain to you and make you understand, but first you have to stop crying, okay?"

"I can't help it, you know!"

"Yes, I know it can be hard, life can be hard, but there are a lot of things I need to explain to you, and then life will be a bit easier to get your head round, I promise."

"I don't trust you right now. Nothing you're saying makes sense."

"It does, it's just that it doesn't make sense to you yet." What a weird thing to say!

"That's exactly what I mean."

"Just let me explain," he was desperate now.

"Fine," I gave in, "explain it all to me."

"I can't unless you are calm. Then you will be able to take it all in and not feel like the world is coming down on top of you." This was really not making any sense to me.

"So what do I do, then?" I asked.

"Wait until tomorrow. I'll meet you here at lunchtime and I'll tell you everything."

"Everything?" I sniffed.

"Promise."


	5. Chapter 5: The Truth

I spent all night worrying about what David told me. He said I was making that storm. What on Earth was he on about? What does it mean. I can't control a storm! I don't know anyone who can control one, either. It's not even possoble. I'd have to be some kind of sorcerer person if I wanted to do that, and I'm pretty sure they only exist in stories. I used to like the idea of magic. I felt like it was the sort of thing I'd come up with, if I was writing a story. It appealed to me right from the beginning, when I was still reading fairy tales. The thought just gives me a feeling of control, which is one thing I'd really like to have. Control over things like day dreaming, or who speaks to me. I was also worried about what he was going to tell me, and even more so about the fact that if he was going to tell me anything, I had to be calm in the first place. Does that mean that whatever he is going to tell me is so unbelievable that I have to be open-minded to be able to accept it? If that's the case, then is he even telling me the truth? Is there really some massive theory out there that I'm going to find so hard to grasp, and that I may not even believe. Was he trying to hypnotise me or something? Mind you, I only had to think back to the time he took me to the cinema to know that wasn't going to happen. I do kind of know him, anyway, and I'm pretty sure he wouldn't do a thing like that. I had various other weird and wonderful thoughts, feelings and questions going through my mind, and was expecting everything to be answered. That is where I was wrong.

The morning was pretty boring. It was just like normal, really, the only thing I had to look forward to was the chat I was going to have with David, and I wasn't exactly looking forward to that, either. In fact, I was completely freaking out at this point. Inside my brain, obviously. I tried to make myself look relatively normal - or as normal as I will ever be- whilst my brain was going mad. It was like there was a fire in there or something. I really felt like I might just have some weird thing where all the important stuff in there was evacuating, leaving me unable to think straight. Believe me, that is not a nice feeling. It's just that David made out that whatever he was going to tell me was going to change the way I see the universe, and I did not need that kind of stress at that precise moment in time. However, as much as I hate to think about it, lunchtime came.

I met David in the canteen, as planned. We ate lunch in there (even though we both had packed lunches) and chatted away like we normally do. I was beginning to think that he'd completely forgotten what we we're really doing there when he got up and and told me to come with him. Oh no. I got up and followed, and he took me to an unoccupied corner of the field. He sat down and patted the ground in front of him for me to sit down, too. I sat down opposite him and looked around. I was pretty sure no-one could see us. I waited for him to talk first.

"Well?" I said expectantly, when he just stared straight back at me and said nothing.

"I'm just trying to work out how to put this." He frowned. Not at me. He frowned _in thought_.

"You've had since yesterday to think about this. Just tell me whatever it is you need to tell me." I was getting impatient, and I raised my voice a little more than I was comfortable with, but I wanted this over and done with.

"Anna, this isn't going to sound very tactful, but-"

"For God's sake, just tell me! I'm gonna find out anyway, aren't I?" I'd had enough of this.

"Yes, yes, I suppose you are." Even David looked a bit fed up now, but managed to look more serious and understanding as he said this next bit. "Okay, then," he took a deep breath, "Anna...you're a witch," he sighed like a huge weight had just been lifted off his shoulders. I just stared at him in disbelief at the stupidity of what he'd just said.

"I'm sorry, I'm a - I'm a what?" My voice was unusually high. Maybe I did half believe him.

"A witch," he said slowly, as if he thought I was stupid or something. He still had a serious face on. Perhaps he was telling the truth after all.

"Um...okay..." I was starting to think about the possibility that what David was saying was true. It all seemed like some big joke. "That's not possible. It's...it's just not possible. There's no such thing..." I didn't sound very sure of myself as I said it.

"You have to believe me." There was concern on his face, now. Clearly it was very important to him that I believed him, but I wasn't prepared to do that quite yet.

"How do I know you're telling the truth?"

"Because I'm a witch as well." Now that didn't quite make sense to me.

"You're a - you're a witch?"

"Yes," he nodded.

"No. You can't be. You're lying." I accused him.

"Look, I know there's a lot to take in, and it's difficult to understand it all, but please let me finish explaining," he said, exasperated.

"Shouldn't you be a wizard?"

"There's no such thing as a wizard. We're all witches."

"That doesn't sound realistic. I definitely don't think you're telling the truth."

"How do I convince you that I am?"

"Prove it," I demanded. "Prove that you're a witch."

"How do I do that?" I rolled my eyes at him. He really wasn't helping his situation here.

"Well do magic!"

"What do you want me to do?"

"I don't know. Anything."

David held his hand out in front of him and stared at it. His eyes lit up for a second. And by that I mean they literally lit up. They were actually giving off light. It was a pale lilac colour, a colour that you don't see in a persons eyes normally. I watched in awe as a small ice cube grew from nothing in the palm of his hand. When he was finished, and it was the size if about four ordinary ice cubes, he passed it to me. I gasped.

"It's not cold!" I said, rubbing the ice cube as if there was a layer of cold ice that I was trying to uncover.

"Would you like it to be cold?" Without waiting for me to answer, his eyes flashed purple again, and the ice froze my hands, it was that cold. They we're numb within ten seconds. I tried to drop it, but it was stuck to my hands.

"Make it stop, make it stop!" I moaned. David's eyes flashed, and my hands we're back to their normal temperature in the same time it took for then to cool down.

"Is that better?" He said in a patronising tone.

"Yeah, thanks." And he made the ice cube disappear. I stuck my bottom lip out. "Aww. I liked that ice cube." David laughed and conjured up another one for me. I smiled like a child who'd just been given a new toy. "I guess I just made a bit of a fool of myself." David smiled in agreement. "So...can I make an ice cube?"

"Um. Not really," he said sympathetically. He looked even more sympathetic when he saw my disappointed face.

"Why not?" I whined.

"Well, you're an air witch. Most commonly known as spinners, because of tornados and cyclones you guys can make."

"Wait, there are different types of witches?"

"Yeah. There are four. One for each of the elements."

"So which one are you?"

"I'm a water witch. We're known as icicles."

"That's a bit mean."

"In what way."

"Well, icicle makes you sound evil."

"I can assure you, I'm certainly not evil."

"So what about fire and earth?"

"Well fire witches are known as flingers, because they have a habit of flinging fireballs at us."

"And when you say "us", you mean the people who aren't flingers?"

"Yeah. The flingers can be pretty dangerous. And then there's the earth witches, who are known as Rockies. They control rocks, volcanoes, and all things like that. They can even make volcanoes appear from nowhere!"

"That sounds scary."

"You haven't even seen it yet," he laughed, "you can't be scared!" I raised my eyebrows at him.

"Have you thought about what this is like from where I'm sitting?"

"Okay, fair enough."

"So what about the storm I apparently created yesterday?"

"Well, sometimes, if you haven't been warned, or been told how to keep it all under control, then when you experience extreme emotion, you can use your power without even knowing you are. You felt a bit dizzy afterwards, I seem to remember."

"Yeah, that was probably when I went all light-headed on the way in. Will that happen every time I try to do something?

"Sometimes. The dizziness is often a bit worse the first few times you do a new spell, and after that it gets a little better, but never completely. When you perform a spell, you use up some of your power, but your body will make more of it in a matter of hours. The more you lose, the longer it takes, obviously. You also have the actual magic, which is what you need to make power. Everyone has a certain amount if magic, and the more magic you have, the more power you have. We mainly just refer to them both as magic, but technically, they are different. When you use up too much of your power, you will be knocked unconscious. You see, power and magic are like oxygen, witches can't survive without it, and lack of it has the same kind of effect that lack of oxygen would have on you."

"Oh. Okay." I changed the subject. "So you know for sure that it was me who created that storm, then."

"Yeah, that was definitely you."

"But what about the rain. I'm not an icicle! Shouldn't you be the one who controls that?"

"Well, we both have control of that, but if we were both trying to control the same thing, then whoever put more power into it would get control. Icicles and spinners are links in that respect."

"Can I do a spell now?" I asked hopefully. David looked like he didn't want to answer this question.

"In theory, you could, but I think we should do it some other time, when I'm there to help you, and it isn't at the end of lunch. You won't be able do do it on your own, though, because different witches have different amounts of power. You clearly have a lot of power, if you managed to conjure up that storm yesterday and stayed conscious."

"Only just," I reminded him.

"Yeah, but still. Every witch has a limit, and you have to find that limit by slowly working up to the harder spells until you know that if you go any further, then you would be as good as dead."

"Oh. Well that sounds lovely!" I said sarcastically. "So, when you said "as good as dead" would I be actually dead?"

"Well actually, you _would_ be dead."

"You just made me feel so much better," I rolled my eyes at him.

"You're the one who asked!"

"Wait, so if I did a more powerful spell, then I _would_ be knocked out, because I only just managed not to yesterday."

"Yep."

"When did you get your magic?" I asked, changing the subject again.

"I got mine when I was nine."

"Nine!?" I shrieked. "Why did you get yours so early?"

"The real question is why you got yours so late. And that is also one I can answer. Lack of social interaction can postpone it. If you get to twenty years old, and you haven't got your magic yet, then you never will. I think your parents must have done that to you. They probably put a spell on you to stop you being a very social person. I don't know why it suddenly stopped working."

"But why would they do that to me?"

"Some witches see magic as a burden rather than a gift. I guess your parents are two of those people."

"How do you know whether you will get magic? I mean, obviously if both your parents are witches then you will be as well, but what if they're not?"

"If one is magic and one isn't, then there is a fifty-fifty chance of you being magic. If neither of your parents are witches, but one of your grandparents is, then there is still a fifty-fifty chance of you being a witch. I never goes past your grandparents, though."

"Okay. That's complicated, but I think I get it."

"Good. Do you understand and believe everything in told you this lunchtime?"

"I think so, but I might need to check a few things with you in the future, because I'll probably forget a couple of things."

"That's fine, just try to remember as much as you can."

"Also, I have one more question."

"Go on."

"Why do we both day dream and get good grades in tests?" I know it was going off into a different conversation a little bit, but I thought I may as well ask while I was there with him, and it was an appropriate time for asking questions.

"Because witches control nature, we are naturally very aware of it. Our IQ is generally higher than our peers, as well." The bell went. "I know it's going to be hard, but try to keep yourself under control, okay?"

"Yeah, sure."


	6. Chapter 6: The Flinger

I don't know exactly how I'm meant to "keep myself under control", apart from just going back to the old Anna. The one who didn't know any of the stuff David told me. When was he going to help me? He said he would help me, but I'm not sure how he's planning to do that. I don't think it's even possible to help me anymore. No-one else bothered. They just gave up on me. All the teachers, apparently my parents didn't want me to be what I have always had in me. My peers left me alone, and overall, I felt completely rejected. Not a nice place to be, but possibly better than the one I'm in right now. I understand everything David told me, but at the same time, it confused me. I was walking aimlessly through the school, trying to take my mind off what happened yesterday. Off what David told me. I believe him...almost. I mean, I believe that he's telling the truth, but I can't quite get my head round the way it's changed the way I view the world. I used to think that certain things couldn't be helped, like a storm. Now I realise that maybe whatever is going on outside could be the work of a spinner. You never know. It's like nature doesn't exist anymore. Everything that happens is probably the work of a witch. You don't know who it is, though. The only clue you have is when the eyes flash purple. I wonder whether there is another way of telling. Like by some kind of mark. One that can't be erased.

Like I said, I was just walking aimlessly down random corridors (it was lunchtime), and during my pleasant stroll, I just happened to walk past Mr Brown. He stopped me.

"What were you doing?" he asked through gritted teeth.

"What?" I asked, completely bemused.

"I saw you."

"You saw me do what?"

"Don't act all innocent with me, young lady, now answer the question."

"I don't know the answer."

"Oh, so you thought you'd just make a storm and then pretend nothing happened?"

"I-"

"Come on, Anna answer me before I force you to."

"What do you mean, you'll force me to? How will you do that?" Mr Brown remained silent for a second before responding.

"I hope you never have to find out." Good answer. I hated to imagine what he would do to me. I thought I'd try and keep asking some more questions.

"How do you even know it was me?"

"How stupid do you think I am? I saw your eyes flash, and I know Sarah did, too. It's only because of the storm you somehow managed to create without quite passing out, that she assumed it was just her and thought she was seeing things. So I'll ask you again. What were you doing? Why did you do it?"

"I-It was an accident-" I stammered and turned to run away, but Mr Brown grabbed my shoulder and pulled me back round.

"Don't lie to me!" he shouted. Then he snatched his hand away and stared at it. "How...how did you do that?"

"Do what?" I honestly had no idea what I'd done. He turned his hand round to show a sore, red patch on his palm.

"I didn't just do that!" I couldn't have. I'm a spinner. Mr Brown didn't seem to think so. He put his hand on my wrist with a grip so strong that I couldn't walk away. His face turned evil and his eyes flashed purple. Then my arm started to heat up where he was holding me, stopping me from running away. It got so hot I screamed out, but no-one came. I tried to push his arm away, but it stayed exactly where it was and his hand maintained it's burning heat.

"HELP!" I screamed. There was a crackling sound behind us, and Mr Brown's attention strayed for long enough for me to break free of his grip. I put my hand on my wrist and found it slippery with blood. "Help!" I shouted again. Someone grabbed me from behind and I whirled round to find David standing there.

"David what-?"

"Shhh." He whispered. I was getting light-headed again. I tried to sit down, but David held on to me.

"David, I have to-"

"Don't worry," he said quietly. But I was worrying. I was putting more and more of my weight onto David. He could tell what was going on, and he pulled me close to him. I leaned into him, grateful for the support. There were lot of bright flashes, and there were things whooshing past from behind me. I couldn't tell what they were, but they must have been dangerous, because David kept shifting from side to side to avoid them. I hid my face, and tried not to think about what was happening.

"I need to-" I tried again.

"You'll be fine. It'll be just like last time. Just hold on." But David didn't sound too sure of himself, and I knew that it was worse than last time. I was completely relying on him to hold me up now, and I could barely keep my eyes open. It wasn't getting any better, either. I wasn't sure whether I'd be able to stay awake for much longer. I looked up at him as it became harder and harder to keep my eyes open.

"I..I think-" David hugged me tighter, and he could see me drifting into darkness. I finally gave up and allowed my eyes to close.

"Anna...Anna, no!"

I opened my eyes and groaned. I was lying on the floor somewhere. Someone was leaning over me and there was a bandage on my wrist.

"Anna?" They whispered. I didn't answer. I was still trying to work out where I was. "Anna, can you hear me? Anna!" They shook me a bit. "Anna!"

"Ugh," I moaned. I rolled over and curled up. My head was buzzing and my vision was blurred and I had a really bad headache. I didn't want to be there, I just wanted to go back to sleep.

"Anna. Talk to me." Whoever it was seemed pretty insistent, but I just wanted to go to sleep and forget all about whatever was going on. They rolled me back onto my back, and now that my vision had cleared a little, I could tell that the person was David.

"David?" I croaked. He smiled. That seemed to be enough for him.

"Yeah," he sighed, somewhat relieved. I tried to sit up, but he pushed me back down again. "Stay there. Until I know you're okay."

"I'm fine," I lied.

"No, you're not." he pushed my hair out of my face. "How exactly do you feel?"

"Well..." I thought about this one for a second. I wasn't sure whether to tell him the truth or not. If I did, I might worry him. But then if I didn't, then something else might happen. However, from my experience, David seemed to know what he was talking about. "My head hurts."

"Is that it? Are your ears ringing?" I shook my head. "Nothing else at at all?"

"Well, stuff's a bit blurry, but it's getting better."

"And that's it?"

"I'm really tired, but I don't know whether that really counts."

"How tired?"

"Very. I could fall asleep right here if I wasn't stressing out about what's going on."

"Then that does matter. Anything else?"

"No. That's it."

"Right. Good. That's fine."

"Can I get up now?"

"No. Just stay there for a minute."

"Okay." I curled back up again. David stood up and went to talk to someone. He explained what I'd told him, and whoever it was came over and sat down behind me.

"Anna, can you tell me what happened?" It was Mrs Perry. She's the only teacher who didn't give up on me. I shook my head. "Do you have any idea _why_ this happened?" I shook my head again. She got up and went back over to David. They stayed there for about five minutes.

David came over and put his hand on my back.

"You can get up now." He helped me up. "Slowly," he warned. When I'd stood up, I buried my head in David's shoulder, and he pulled me close and hugged me. I wasn't sure when I was going to let go, but I certainly didn't want to. After a few minutes, Mrs Perry told us to go to the medical room.

When we got there, she wrote a note for David to give to his teacher, saying that he had her permission to have been out of the lesson, and sent him outside for a minute. She sat down next to me on the bed (there was no-one else in there).

"Do you really have no idea what happened?"

"Yeah. I don't know. I was fine one minute, and then I just..."

"Do you want us to call your parents?"

"No," I said hastily, "I'm fine, thanks. Can I just stay here?"

"Of course, if that's what you want. Do you still have a headache?" I nodded. "Is your vision okay now?"

"Yeah."

"And you don't feel disoriented?"

"No, that's all fine."

"Okay. I'll leave you here, then." And she got up and left.

David walked in.

"Mrs Perry said I could talk to you for a bit, but that you'll probably want to go to sleep."

"Yeah. I would like to, but I need to talk to you first. I need to know a couple of things."

"Okay. That's fine. Tell me exactly what happened before I got there, and then I'll answer your questions."

"I was walking down the corridor, and I bumped into Mr Brown. He asked me why I'd done something, but I didn't know what it was that I was meant to have done. He didn't believe me, and then I realised it was the storm that he was talking about. I told him it was an accident, but he didn't believe me about that either. He was in a rage and he grabbed my shoulder. Then he pulled his hand away and it was all pink and sore. He blamed me for burning him, but I couldn't have done that, because I'm a spinner. He didn't care, though. He grabbed my arm and burnt me. I tried to get away, but he held me too tightly. I shouted for help, and then you came. There was a cracking sound, and Mr Brown took his attention off me for a second, so I ran out of his reach. Then you came over and told me I was going to be fine. I tried to tell you I needed to sit down, but you wouldn't let me, and then...I'm not sure..." I trailed off.

"Okay, so what do you want to know?"

"What was that cracking sound?"

"I made an ice cube, and then cracked it in half to divert his attention."

"How did I burn him?"

"Now that's a question that I don't know the answer to. I can try and find out, but at the moment, I don't know. I definitely haven't heard of anyone else who could do that."

"How did you know to come?"

"You don't know?" He looked surprised.

"No! Should I know something?"

"Well, really, yes."

"What?"

"You made another storm, and you spelled the word "help" out with the clouds."

"So that's why I ended up here then." I yawned and rested my head on his shoulder. Clearly the magic had taken it out of me.

"Yes."

"Why didn't you let me sit down?"

"You have a lot of questions. Tom was throwing fireballs. I was making sure you didn't get hit."

"Who's Tom?"

"Mr Brown."

"Did you get hit?"

"No."

"Why did he stop?"

"He could feel his power running out, and he didn't want to be found in the same state that you were in."

"How long was I unconscious?"

"About fifteen minutes."

"Is that a lot?"

"It could have been worse, but I wouldn't make cloud words too often, if I was you."

"What am I meant to do with my wrist?"

"I'll sort that out tomorrow. Just keep the bandage on for now."

"Okay. That's it."

"No more questions?"

"Nope. No more."

"Okay. I'll let you sleep, then."

"Can you wake me up when school ends?"

"Of course. I'll see you later, then." And he went back to his lesson. I layed down, and was asleep in no time.


	7. Chapter 7: Rejuvenate

"Anna?" Someone was shaking me gently. I opened my eyes to find David standing there. I was in the medical room. Still.

"What time is it?" I yawned.

"The bell went a few minutes ago."

"Ooohh." I groaned and stretched.

"Come on. We need to go. Otherwise we'll miss the bus."

"What do you mean "we'll miss the bus"?" I wasn't aware that David got a bus back from school. I thought his mum collected him.

"Well I'll miss the bus, I don't know about you."

"Since when did you get the bus?"

"Since today - if I don't miss it waiting for you." He pretended to be irritated by me.

"Which one?"

"The 1b. What about you?"

"The 1b, as well!" I tried to sound as excited as possible, but it didn't really work.

"Hurry up, then!" He walked to the doorway. I slowly got up off the bed, and walked over to him. He noticed the way I was leaning on the wall a couple of times. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, it's just that I'm still almost as tired as I was before, and this headache is really bad." I put my hand on my head. David offered his arm, and I gratefully slipped in front of it and he closed it around my waist.

The bus was packed, and it was about ten minutes before I got a seat. I slumped down into it, and fell straight to sleep again.

"Anna." David woke me up. "Your stop's in a couple of minutes."

"Oh, Okay. Thanks," I said, wishing for my bed. "Why am I so tired?"

"Rejuvenating your power takes a lot of energy, and yours was quite low after that episode, so you'll be very tired. The tiredness is where headache's coming from. Go and get some sleep at home, it speeds up the process." He said, and moved out of the way so I could get off the bus. I waved goodbye, and went home.

David was right. I went home, and fell asleep as soon as I lay down on my bed. When I woke up, I felt fully refreshed. My headache was gone, the world was back to normal. Kind of. The only problem was that it was light and sunny outside. And by that, I mean properly light and sunny. Which meant that it was about eleven o'clock. This was not good. I got out of bed, changed my school uniform (I still had my clothes on from yesterday. I hadn't thought about changing at the time), grabbed my school bag and walked to the bus stop. It's a good job I get a public bus, because I would have stayed at home otherwise, and a certain person would be worrying about me. I only had to wait for ten minutes for the bus to come.

When I got to school, it was about eleven forty-five, which meant it was in the middle of third period. I got my timetable out to see where I was supposed to be. Maths, with Mrs Perry. She's my form tutor, but also takes me for maths. She's really nice to me. She treats me like I am normal, and never picks on me when I'm day dreaming, unlike a certain geography teacher.

I knocked on the door. Mrs Perry looked relieved when she saw me peering through the window. She must have been worried when she did the register in the morning and I wasn't there.

"Continue with questions three and four in the textbook, please. I'll be back in a minute." She came out into the corridor with me.

"I'm sorry, I-"

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, now. I just went to sleep as soon as I got home, and I slept right through to eleven this morning."

"That's fine. David did tell me that you might not be in school today."

"Really?"

"Yes. Look, why don't you wait at reception for the rest of the lesson, and then you can go back to your last two lessons, and it won't look so odd that you just walk into school halfway through a lesson."

"Thanks," I nodded, and went to sit at a chair in the foyer and spent the rest of third period doing some homework that I was meant to do last night.

David caught me at the beginning of lunch on the way to the library.

"Anna!" He shouted from behind me. I looked back and waved, but didn't stop walking. "Anna, wait." But I didn't want to wait. I wanted to be left alone. I wanted things to be the way they used to be. I started to run, I could hear David's footsteps behind me. He was faster than me, which was annoying. He ran past me and blocked my path.

"Get out the way," I said, which was completely out of character for me. Usually if someone's in the way, I either do whatever they want me to do, or go round a different way. I don't like to pick fights with people, I prefer to try and keep the peace. Not like Sarah, she goes around looking for someone to have an argument with. Why she does it is beyond me, but I know I'm not that kind of person. However, I did spend a moment thinking about what I must have looked like to David, who happens to know me quite well at the moment.

"I only wanted to ask you a question." He looked a bit put out. That answered my question of what I looked like to him.

"I don't want to answer it. Not right now."

"But you don't even know what it is yet!"

"And I'd like to keep it that way. Now please move."

"Anna, just wait a minute," he put one hand on my shoulder, "If you want to be left alone, then that's fine by me, but I wanted to know if you still wanted to go on that date tonight."

"I'm not sure that's a very good idea," I said, and pushed past him.

The library was quiet and peaceful. It was a nice place to be when you were in a situation like mine. I picked a book up off a shelf and began reading it. I got completely lost in it, and lost track of time. I was about halfway through it when the bell rang, and I was disappointed that time seemed to have gone by so quickly, but at least I had another chance to day dream, because I had a lot of things on my mind at that moment.

Lessons were fine, until I realised that David was going to be getting the bus. Then I had something else to think about. Another conversation to get through before I could finally get home and be on my own. I like David and everything. Like I really like him, but I just needed to be alone for a while. Just to think about things. And then try and work out how to stop doing magic by accident. I think I was day dreaming for the whole of the last two lessons, because I can't remember a single thing any of the teachers said to me (or anything they said at all). I just walked around like a zombie with no clue what in was doing, I just did it automatically. I subconsciously knew what I was doing, but I didn't really notice it. Not until I saw David at the bus stop. That brought me back to reality.

I tried to get there without him seeing me, because I thought it would be a bit awkward after our short conversation when I was on the way to the library. But I was unsuccessful. David caught me and walked over. I was kind of glad that he hadn't taken what I said to him earlier to heart. I just didn't really feel like talking at the time.

"Hi," I said, trying to act like nothing happened, and hoping that he'd realise that I just wanted to forget about it.

"Look, I'm sorry if caught you at a bad time earlier."

"Yeah, sort of. Sorry I was like that, I just didn't really want to talk."

"I know, I get it."

"What about this?" I pointed to my wrist.

"I'll put a new one on for you now, and then you can keep it on for about a week. Then you won't need it any more."

"How do you know all this?"

"Mrs Perry told me. She also gave me this," he said, and pulled another bandage out of his bag. He beckoned for me to hold my hand out, and he started to take off the old bandage. I winced as he peeled the it off the wound. "Sorry."

"How come Mr Brown stopped shooting at you?"

"I guess he knew his limits and didn't want to end up in the same state that you were in. You're done."

"Thanks," I said as I got on the bus.

"So how come you don't get picked on by all the teachers?"

"I always get to sit in the back corner, so they don't notice me so much. You have to sit at the back in the middle. What's your surname?"

"Winterson. But Sarah's is Wither, and that boy called James, his begins with a "y", but I'm not sure what it is. They're both in my form for registration, and they try to keep the forms together if they can, so they're in all of my classes," I explained.

"Oh, my surname's White, and I'm at the end in all my classes."

"Lucky."

"Not that it makes a difference that I'm not quite in the corner in geography any more. I seems like Mr Brown has already chosen his victim."

"I have to agree with you there," I laughed. Mr Brown knows David day dreams as well, he just pretends not to notice. "I'll just have to hold on until I've taken my GCSEs. Then I can move to another school for sixth form.

"Won't your parents mind?"

"No. They don't realise I'm a witch yet, so they'll still be keeping up the antisocial behaviour, and thinking it's working." I pressed the stop button, and got off about ten seconds later.


	8. Chapter 8: Run

The problem with school, is that there are always teachers watching you. As Mr Brown said, he saw my eyes flash purple in the first storm I made. He also saw how I nearly fainted, but not quite, but why was he watching me anyway? Have I got myself a personal stalker? Kind of a disturbing thought. However, he was always weird to me to start with, and now the fact that he was so mad when I made that storm, there's got to be something going on. Especially when I burnt him. Even David doesn't know what's going on anymore. I'm just different. I don't know why I am, I don't know how it happened, and I don't know what it's going to mean for me in the future. Already someone's after me (Mr Brown), and he didn't even know quite how different I was at that point. Apparently you have to have quite a lot of power to make a storm, let alone by accident. Most people need help learning how to use it, but I need to be taught how to control it. Magic is something that is given to you, and although it's possible to hide it away, or stop it from showing in the first place, I don't think any witch would be quite right without it. Well, I wasn't quite right without it, but so far, I seem to be an exception. I wish there was some kind of answer to this. I'm a complete loner, but in a completely different way to before. Before, I just had school issues, but for all I know, my life could be in serious danger right now. Mr Brown could be part of a whole gang of evil Flingers, just waiting out there - waiting to come and get me. And if that's the case, then the Rockies would probably be doing the same thing. I've noticed that the Spinners and the Icicles seem to be quite closely linked, and are the opposite to the Flingers and the Rockies, who are also closely linked. Like two armies fighting against each other. I don't know what for yet, but if that's the case then there might be some other witch out there, besides David, who are willing to help me. But then if I'm all the elements, then I'm on both sides. Which then means that they'll all be out there to kill me. Not a nice thought. Still, I don't know they'll want to do that, they might be fighting each other for possession of me. I'm so confused now, I don't know what's gonna happen. Neither does David, which leaves me wondering who does and how we find them. It's not the kind of thing you'd usually expect to find on Google, so I'll just have to hope that someone from David's family knows something. There's got to be. I can't live my life not even knowing who or what I am. There might just be a story or something. Anything that might help. I'm not expecting a straight answer, but surely I'm not the only one on the planet with this "condition". I'm sure it's what many witches dreamed of, and who wouldn't, but to me, it's just annoying.

"David, do you have any idea what's going on with me?" I sat down next to him in geography.

"Anna, I'm sorry, but I still don't know much. There was once a woman who could control two of them. Fire and water. She was called the queen of old. There was a prophecy about her, so a few people knew that there would be a witch with her ability, but only a few. If there was a prophecy about you, about you, it might explain why you are like this. Once a prophecy has been made, there is no way of changing it."

"Do you have any idea how to find it?" I sat up straight, and David hesitated for a second before reluctantly shaking his head. Mr Brown gave me the evils as he walked into the classroom.

"We need to get out of here." David grabbed my hand and stood up.

"What?"

"Now," he shouted, and pulled me through the door as quickly as he could. We ran out to the car park before I managed to get him to stop.

"What is going on?" I panted.

"Trust me," he said, offering me his hand. I backed away from it.

"Not until you tell me what we're running from." I stubbornly stood there. David opened his mouth to start to explain things, when Mr Brown came running out after us. I screamed as David pulled me into his car and drove away.

"David, explain."

"Okay. This is probably more than you bargained for, but there are certain things that different types of witches feed off of. Like I only live from liquids. The Rockies are vegetarians, and Spinners don't eat anything. Now since you were a Spinner first, I would hope that you will only take on that part. Have you been hungry lately?" I shook my head. "Thirsty?"

"No."

"There are two groups of witches: Spinners and Icicles, and Flingers and Rockies. However, the Spinners and Icicles are friends, but the Rockies are the slaves of the Flingers."

"What do Rockies have to do?" I frowned and turned to look at him. He glanced at me.

"Some just do things like housework, but some - in fact, quite a lot - are food. The Flingers feed off of the life force of others, and magic is especially tasty."

"What!?" I shrieked. "What happens to the Rockies that get eaten?"

"If the magic gets below a certain level, then they die."

"So...why are we running away from Mr Brown-"

"Tom."

"Sorry. Why are we running away from _Tom_ if the Flingers feed from Rockies?"

"They don't just feed from Rockies, they feed from every living creature. They could live from plant sap if they wanted to, it's just that they...yearn for magic. Some of them refrain from it, and live from plant sap, or the blood of regular humans or animals, but most find that impossible, so they keep the Rockies locked up, just waiting to be eaten. Sometimes the Rockie's life is taken, and sometimes it isn't."

"How come the Flingers have such power over them, but not us?"

"Centuries ago, there was a fight. The Flingers won. They got power over Rockies. They are more powerful than the Rockies, generally. It has been like this ever since."

"I still don't get why Tom was chasing _us_."

"Anna. You are a very, _very_ powerful witch. He could smell how much magic is in you."

"He could _smell_ me?"

"Yeah. Only Flingers can do that, because of their diet." David stopped his car outside a small, white house.

"Where are we?" I stepped out if the car and followed him up to the front door.

"This is where I live." He got his keys out and unlocked the door. A voice called from inside somewhere.

"David? Is that you?"

"Yeah, Mum." He lead me down the hallway and out into the living room, where his Mum was sat on one of the grey sofas, drawing something with her hair pulled back into a ponytail. Her hair was the exact same shade as David's.

"And who's this?" She asked, her gold glasses on the end of her nose.

"Anna." David said quickly. He was nervous for some reason.

"I'm David's Mum, Elisa." She smiled warmly at me. I waved, but really just wanted to know what David was planning on doing about this mess. "Why are you home so early then. Shouldn't you be at school?"

"Mum, you know Tom, that Flinger I told you about?"

"The one that teaches there?"

"Yeah, well Anna's just got her magic during this last week. There were social problems caused by her parents, because they didn't want her magic to show. But for some reason, it showed up anyway, and she's very powerful, Mum. Her magic is so strong. But he can smell it. He's thirsty for it. She can't go back there."

"Okay, then. Anna, there's a spare room upstairs. You can sleep here whenever you need to."

"That you, Mrs White, but I don't think that's necessary."

"Anna," David whispered, "I can't let you out if my sight, do you understand?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I understand."

"Good." he said, and he went upstairs.

"David?" I went up the stairs a few minutes after him. "David?"

"Anna," he came out of his room onto the landing, "I'm sorry that any of this happened to you."

"Hey, hey, it's okay." I reached forward and hugged him. "I don't mind. what's happening is something we can't change. We just have to live with it."

"Okay, he breathed, and kissed me on the lips before walking away."

I went into the spare room and layed on the matress, just staring at the textured pale blue ceiling, doing nothing. After a while, I grew tired, and closed my eyes, gradually drifting off to sleep.

"Anna." A soft voice was calling my name. I opened my eyes to find Elisa sat next to me on my bed.

"Elisa, why are you here?" I went to pull the covers up, but there weren't any. It was just a bare matress. Clearly the room didn't get used very much.

"I wondered if you wanted any breakfast."

"Um. Yeah, sure. Thanks." I don't know why I was so surprised. Mums are meant to do things like that, aren't they?

"Okay. I'll go and make you some toast." She started to walk out of the room.

"Elisa, wait." She stopped and turned around. "It's really nice of you to do this, but I'm not hungry."

"Oh, you're a Spinner."

"Yeah, but it's not just that, it's everything. Why are you doing it?"

"Doing what?"

"For a start, letting me sleep here, and just being so nice to me. So welcoming. So thoughtful." Elisa sighed, and took a second before answering.

"There was a time, when I was being..._hunted_...by a Flinger. I know how scary it can be, and I also know how alone you can feel." Her eyes grew distant for a second, before she blinked and left.

After having got dressed, I walked down stairs to the living room. Elisa was walking out of the kitchen with two glasses of water for David, and a large pile of papers with all her artwork on them. I went over to help her carry them, but tripped over my own feet and fell, scraping my arm in the corner of the table.

"Ow!"

"I'll be two seconds," Elisa said,. She put the things down, and rushed out to the kitchen. She came back with some damp kitchen roll to wipe the blood up with. I gasped as I took my hand off the cut to reveal quite a deep cut, but that wasn't what I was worried about. There was no blood on my arm, or my hand. Instead, there was a pale blue liquid, slightly thicker than blood.

"What's happening?" I panicked.

"Shhh, honey, it's okay. You're fine. It's completely normal."

"You're telling me that _that_," I pointed to my arm, "is normal?"

"It's just some of your magic. It's replaced your blood."

"Wait, I don't have any blood? Am I even human?"

"That's a matter of opinion." Oh, great. This witch thing just gets better and better.

"What kind of witch are you?" I asked, trying to take my mind of the fact that I might not be technically classed as a person anymore.

"I'm a Spinner." I gasped when she put the kitchen roll on my cut, but after a few seconds, it was strangely soothing. "Before you ask, it's my magic that's doing that," she said, seeing the look on my face. The magic soaked through to the other side of the kitchen roll and touched Elisa's fingers. She closed her eyes for a second.

"What is this?" She shook her head in disbelief. "It's trickery. It's not even possible. What are you?" Elisa was shouting now.

"Mum, that's what we're trying to find out." David appeared in the doorway. "I can feel how different her magic is, too. I don't know what she is either. She's like all the witches on the earth put together. She's everything."

"Oh, I'm so sorry. I acted without thinking, I-" She suddenly became very flustered and embarrassed by what she'd just said, and how loudly she'd said it. I could tell she was the kind of person who hates to be responsible or other peoples' unhappiness.

"Really, Mrs White, it's okay. I understand. I've had a few shocks recently as well" I looked over at David.

"Thank you," she said.

"And thank you. For helping me." I said, and she walked back out into the kitchen. Sensing that she would rather not be disturbed, I went back up to the spare room.


	9. Chapter 9: Fly

It seems that David doesn't have any family apart from his mum. No-one else has arrived at the house in the last few days, and there doesn't seem to be any other way of money coming in, apart from Elisa's work as an artist. After a couple of days, I'd got to know the main layout of the house, and Elisa had found some bedding to put in the spare room. I was having breakfast when I decided to ask David a couple of questions that had been bugging me for a while.

"David, if I can't go to school, then how am I supposed to get my A levels?"

"You don't need to go to school to get your A levels," he said simply.

I'm seriously starting to worry about David. Or just being a witch in general, but David says the weirdest things sometimes. "How can I get A levels if I don't go to school?"

"You're a witch. You'll pass easily just by using your instinct."

Yup, it's just being a witch in general. "Then can I go home, and just go back to school for the tests?"

"Um..." he was a bit put out by the wording of this question, which made it sound like I didn't really want to be there.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean it as if I don't like it here, I've never felt more at home in my life, it's just. I feel bad that your mum's having to act like my mum and everything. It should be _my_ parents doing that. I also have a lot of stuff over there that I might need in the future."

"Oh. Yeah. Of course. I think you could go home if you wanted to, but we need to try and find out more about this prophecy and whether it exists."

"Right." I nodded, and started to move away and do something to help, but I paused halfway through turning away from David. "How are we meant to do that?"

"I don't know," he sighed.

"Have you asked your mum?"

He looked at me like I was some kind of genius. "No!" and we ran to find her.

Elisa was in the first place we looked: on the sofa, working. We stood in front of her and waited for her to finish the flower she was sketching, before she paid any attention to us.

"What is it, you two? You're running around like a pair of hyper six-year-olds!"

"Do you know anything about prophecies, and the Queen of Old?" I asked. Elisa took her glasses off and leaned back in her seat.

"I know about the Queen of Old - or the story I was I told about her. I don't know much about prophecies, except from the fact that once they have been made, they can't be changed, and there is a guarded library of all the prophecies that have ever been made. There aren't actually that many at the moment, because many have recently been fulfilled, and because there aren't that many Travellers. If you want to get a librarian to read out a prophecy to you, you have to let them do some kind of test to make sure you are who you say you are. You know, so they know you're at least honest enough to tell them the truth, and also that you're not a nosy human who's found out about things. They have to know the prophecy is in safe hands, because there is only one copy of each one. They'll also probably keep a very close eye on out at all times."

"What's a Traveller?" I asked when David didn't. He was being a bit quiet at the moment, and I wasn't sure why.

"The people who make the prophecies. Fortune Tellers, if you like."

"What about the Queen of Old?" I asked.

"I was told a legend when I was a child, about a woman who could control both water and fire.

"There was a prophecy made, which foretold the coming of this witch, but no-one knew who it was. Then, when the witch was seventeen, her magic came. She had been in the same position as you, Anna. Her parents knew about her unique skill, and did everything they could to keep it secret, but it was already too late. People had seen her performing water spells, and fire spells. They reported to the library, who found the prophecy about her. They then gave her the title, knowing she would go down in history. The witch was more powerful than any other, and was hunted by the Flingers, who wanted the magic for their own. You see, once a Flinger feeds off another witch, it can use the magic it has consumed until it runs out. If they don't use it quickly, though, then their body will use it for other things, like keeping their heart beating. The Flingers have been working for centuries to make Spinners and Icicles extinct. With a power like yours or the Queen of Old's, they might have a chance of doing that. The only problem is, that the population of Flingers is very small, so their army isn't big enough to fight us all off. They need your magic," she explained. David and I both nodded.

"So do you know where this library is?" I asked, knowing that that was probably the next place we needed to go.

"I don't know myself, but I do have a friend who lives down in Hampshire who might know."

"So you think we could go and ask them?"

Elisa nodded, got up, and wrote the address down on a piece of paper. "Here you go," she said handing the paper to me. "It will take you a while to get there, but I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for. I'll phone her and let her know you're coming."

"Thank you," I said, hoping my face reflected how pleased I was at how well this had all worked out. I took David's hand and pulled him out to the car with me. "Do you know how to get to Hampshire?" I asked him, wondering why he had been so quiet.

"Yeah, but we won't need the car."

"How are we going to get there, then?" I had no other ideas, apart from a coach or something, which was pointless when we already had a car.

"_You're_ going to get us there."

I stood there for a second and just stared at him. "Me?" I was completely bemused. "How am I supposed to get both of us to Hampshire,and back?"

"You fly us there."

I can fly? No-one told me this before. How come I can fly, and he can't? How is flying anything to do with any of the four elements? Air is sort of related, but it's not what I'd expect. Plus, how am I meant to make David fly? I don't even know how to make me fly! I could imagine it, but I probably couldn't actually do it! Sure, I've had dreams about it and everything, but hasn't everyone? Plus, I bet doing it in real life is a lot different to doing it in a dream, or your imagination, or whatever.

I felt a day dream coming on. It was different form the others, though. It was really hard to stop it coming. I tried, because I was so eager to get to Hampshire that I didn't what to just zone out and postpone it. I tried to blink it away, but that didn't work. Whatever I did, I could still see the pictures forming in my mind gradually getting clearer, sucking me into them.

_Lifting off the ground was as easy as walking - I just pictured it in my mind, and there I was, slowly rising higher and higher into the sky. I was higher than I realised when I looked down. I couldn't even see David underneath me anymore. Everything was just like the view from a plane window, with fields and countryside. It was difficult it make out houses below me. It was the greatest feeling ever, I was higher than it should ever be possible, and yet I was still rising up. Up until I was at the same level as the clouds. I settled down on one, sinking into the cool, damp, refreshing cushion. All I could see around me was the white froth of the cloud. It felt as if I was the only one in the world again - that strange feeling of loneliness that brought comfort and peace of mind with it. I rolled onto my side, and closed my eyes as the cloud carried on drifting, shifting slightly as I transfered my weight form one area to another, finding my most comfortable position to sleep in._

_I opened my eyes to the same heavenly sight that I last saw before I closed them. There was also a loud rumbling noise to go with it. Like an earthquake. I blinked a few times, getting my bearings before slowly sitting up to look over the edge of my cloud. The view had changed slightly as the cloud drifted, and I couldn't quite remember exactly how to get back to David's house, or my own, or even my home town of Peckham. But that was the least of my worries, because I now realised that the loud rumbling noise that had been slowly growing louder was a plane, headed right in my direction. I panicked, and threw myself off the cloud, not thinking about the seriousness of what I was doing. I was just desperate to get way from the now earsplitting noise, and the air around me which was so disturbed that I had no control over what I was doing. I was being blown around so much that I had no idea what to do, which way was up, or which I direction gravity was pulling me in. I shut my eyes and covered my head with my hands, waiting for some kind if sign that I was still alive. I held my breath and tried to focus on the rumbling noise. It sailed past me, without hitting me, but I was so disoriented that I couldn't do anything to stop myself falling aimlessly towards the ground, however much I tried to stop. I willed myself to go up, but I was spinning around so much that I wouldn't have noticed even if it had worked. I squeezed my eyes shut as I came into contact with the hard, concrete ground._

I opened my eyes to find that I was on the floor, being shaken violently by a woman who seemed vaguely familiar. I let my eyes focus, and realised that it was Elisa. David was sat on the other side of me, looking worried. The whole world felt like it was spinning beneath me, like I was still in the sky. I heard a relieved sigh, and the shaking stopped. My head was pounding, but I still felt a strange sense of achievement. As if there was something in the dream that taught me a lesson.

"Anna, can you hear me?" Elisa asked. I nodded, ignoring the painful effect it had on my headache. I stared up at the sky, waiting for the spinning to stop. When it did, I propped myself up on my elbows. Elisa held her hand out to me, and I took it. She helped me up, taking me into her living room and sitting me down on the sofa. David sat next to me, and Elisa crouched in front of the sofa, looking deep into my eyes.

"Are you okay?" She asked.

"I'm fine," I huffed, and tried to get up. I really wanted to go to that library. I needed to see if there was something in my prophecy that mentioned my weird powers.

"Anna, you're not okay," David said.

"How should you know?" I was feeling really grumpy. I was really excited about going to Hampshire, and I didn't want to let a day dream stand in my way. I did wonder how I ended up on the floor, though. It's not something that usually happens.

"What happened? Why did I fall?"

David gave us both an I-told-you-so look before replying. "I don't know. You just froze. Your eyes went all dead, and your whole body just seemed all absent. As if you weren't there anymore. Then you just collapsed."

This made me frown "I...I don't think I was there." I muttered.

"What do you mean?" David's voice was raised. He seemed to think I was brain damaged or something.

"I was in the sky. I was floating, and then there was a plane, and I fell..." I shuddered at the memory. "Can we go now?"

"Go where?" David asked.

"To Hampshire." Now David was the one being the idiot.

Elisa laughed quietly. "I think we'll save that for tomorrow." She took David's hand and they walked out to the kitchen. I heard their hushed voices, but couldn't make out what they were saying, no matter how hard I strained my ears. In the end I just gave up, and went back to the feeling of achievement that was barely present anymore, trying to work out exactly what it was that I had achieved. But it wasn't just that, I also felt like something was building up inside me. A similar feeling to one I had felt when I recovered from creating my first storm. A feeling of strength and ability. I already had my magic, though, and I didn't even do any. What else was going on? I wouldn't feel like this for no reason, but I could think of no reason for it. I had a feeling that Elisa knew. The look in her eyes when she walked back in with David confirmed that. And she didn't look particularly excited about whatever she'd worked out, either. I figured it might be a while before I found out exactly what was going on with me.


End file.
